The best Memorial Day cookouts keep it simple. Family in the backyard, kids running around, a cold drink in your hand, and a grill loaded with hot dogs and hamburgers. You do not need a competition brisket or a 14-hour smoking project to make Memorial Day memorable. You need real fire, quality meat, and a cooker that lets you feed everyone at once without standing over a grill all afternoon. The Pit Barrel Cooker handles classic Memorial Day cookouts beautifully, producing the kind of charcoal-grilled burgers and dogs that taste like summer.

01 / The Case For CharcoalWhy Memorial Day Deserves Real Fire Cooking

Gas grills have taken over American backyards because they are convenient. Push a button, get fire, cook the food, done. The trade-off is flavor. Gas grills produce heat but very little of the smoky, charred character that defines a great backyard burger. Charcoal grills produce real fire flavor, with the deep, savory taste that pulls you back outside as soon as the meat hits the grate. Memorial Day is a holiday rooted in tradition and gathering, and the cookout deserves the kind of cooking that produces real memories instead of fast food in the backyard.

02 / Flavor ScienceThe Charcoal Burger Advantage

A charcoal-grilled hamburger has flavor a gas burger simply cannot match. When fat from the burger drips onto hot charcoal, it vaporizes and rises back up to coat the meat in savory smoke. The high heat of charcoal produces a deep crust on the outside while the inside stays juicy. The combination of crust, smoke flavor, and proper temperature creates the burger most people remember from their favorite backyard cookouts. The Pit Barrel Cooker's vertical drum design positions the included grill grate directly over a sealed bed of charcoal, producing the kind of high-heat, real fire grilling that makes a burger worth the calories.

03 / Crowd CapacityHow Many People Can A Single Pit Barrel Feed?

The 18.5 inch Pit Barrel Cooker handles a Memorial Day cookout for 15 to 25 people without breaking a sweat. The included grill grate fits approximately 12 to 14 quarter-pound burgers at one time, or 20 to 24 hot dogs across the same surface. Cook burgers and dogs in batches and a single Pit Barrel can produce 60 hot dogs and 40 burgers over the course of an afternoon, more than enough to feed a typical Memorial Day gathering. For larger crowds, the 22.5 inch PBX Cooker adds capacity, and the 14 inch Pit Barrel Junior is the perfect tailgating or smaller party cooker.

04 / SetupSetting Up The Pit Barrel For Grilling

Switching from smoking mode to grilling mode on the Pit Barrel takes seconds. 

1. Place the empty charcoal basket in the bottom of your  Pit Barrel^®.

2. Fill your  Custom Pit Barrel^® Chimney Starter  with charcoal. We recommend lump charcoal for grilling, as it burns hotter than standard briquets, but this lighting method will work for briquets as well.

3. Set the grill grate  in your cooker. Place a piece of the charcoal bag drizzled with some cooking oil, some crumpled newspaper. or a starter cube on the grate and light. Immediately place your  Custom Pit Barrel^®Chimney Starter  on top.

4. Wait approximately 12 minutes, and pour the contents of the  Custom Pit Barrel^® Chimney Starter  into the empty coal basket.

5. Add additional charcoal to the  Custom Pit Barrel^® Chimney Starter  and evenly distribute over the hot coals, filling the charcoal basket, and place your grate in the cooker.

6. Let the charcoal sit with the rebar out and lid cracked about an inch. Allow to heat up approximately 15 minutes with lump charcoal, and 20-25 minutes for briquets.

7. Begin your cook.

05 / The BurgerThe Perfect Memorial Day Burger

Quality burgers start with quality meat. Use 80/20 ground chuck for the best balance of flavor and juiciness. Form patties slightly larger than your buns, since they shrink during cooking. Press a slight indent in the center of each patty with your thumb to prevent the dreaded burger dome. Season simply with kosher salt and coarse black pepper, or use Pit Barrel Beef and Game Pit Rub for added depth. Place burgers on the preheated grill grate, close the lid, and flip once at the halfway point. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes per side for medium, 6 to 7 minutes per side for well done. Add cheese in the final minute and close the lid to melt.

06 / The DogHot Dogs Done Right

Hot dogs are the most forgiving cookout food, but a Pit Barrel still produces measurably better dogs than a gas grill or boiling pot. Quality all-beef franks benefit from the high heat and real fire flavor. Place hot dogs directly on the grill grate over the hottest part of the charcoal, or better yet, grab our sausage hanger and hang them tight in the barrel. Total cook time is 5 to 8 minutes depending on dog thickness. For an upgrade, score the dogs lengthwise before grilling to create more surface area for char and to help them hold toppings.

07 / SidesEasy Sides That Complement The Cookout

Classic Memorial Day sides come together while the Pit Barrel does the heavy lifting. Potato salad, coleslaw, and macaroni salad can be made the day before. Baked beans benefit from a quick stint on the Pit Barrel grill grate to develop a smoky character. Corn on the cob grills directly on the grate alongside the burgers, taking 8 to 10 minutes to develop char and tender kernels. Add a watermelon, a cooler of cold drinks, and chips, and your Memorial Day spread is complete.

08 / HostingSet-It-And-Forget-It Hosting

The biggest advantage of the Pit Barrel for Memorial Day cookouts is what it lets you do instead of cook. Gas grills require constant attention to flare-ups and uneven heat. Charcoal grills traditionally require fire management throughout the cookout. The Pit Barrel self-regulates temperature with pre-calibrated air vents that hold steady grilling heat for 4 to 6 hours per load of charcoal. You can cook a batch of burgers, walk away to greet arriving guests, come back to flip them, and walk away again. The cooker handles temperature management while you handle hosting.

09 / ValueAffordable Cookout Equipment

The Pit Barrel Cooker lineup starts under $300 for the Pit Barrel Junior and tops out around $500 for the largest PBX, dramatically less than most premium gas grills and significantly less than competition smokers. For backyard cooks who want one cooker that handles Memorial Day cookouts, summer BBQ, holiday turkey, and weekend brisket equally well, the Pit Barrel is the best value in outdoor cooking. Free domestic shipping is included on orders over $99.99.

10 / Year RoundMore Than Just A Grill

The same Pit Barrel that grills your Memorial Day burgers and dogs also smokes brisket, hangs eight racks of ribs for Father's Day, smokes whole turkeys for Thanksgiving, and produces jerky for your hunting trip in the fall. One cooker, every cook, year-round. Memorial Day is the perfect time to invest in a Pit Barrel because it gets you ready for the entire summer of backyard cooking ahead.